


Gallant Knights and Wretched Sea-Witches

by Listenerofshadows



Series: Sander Sides One-Shots [4]
Category: Sander Sides, Thomas Sanders (Video Blogging RPF) - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders - Freeform, Bruises, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders - Freeform, Gen, Logic | Logan Sanders - Freeform, Morality | Patton Sanders - Freeform, Platonic Logince - Freeform, mentions of physical corporal punishment, mermaid au, platonic LAMP (background)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-06 23:33:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14068008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Listenerofshadows/pseuds/Listenerofshadows
Summary: “He had fled to the cove to take his mind off of things. To pretend to be someone else for a change—a gallant knight, a damsel in distress, a cowering squire—anything but a prince.” // Based off FanderGecko's Mermaid AU on Tumblr.





	Gallant Knights and Wretched Sea-Witches

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Mermaid AU](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/365916) by FanderGecko. 



> This is a gift fic for FanderGecko on Tumblr. If you haven't checked out their amazing mermaid au, that is a tragedy and you should probably check it out for better context of this fic, as this is based on a series of headcanons from the AU. Basically, Roman is a mer-prince who has a commoner for a mother and because of that, he's ostracized by the rest of the royal family. I also drew illustrations for this fic and you'll be able to see them below.

“Dear maiden, whatever seems to be troubling you?” A strong, confident voice rang forth, “Is it an evil stepmother or a sea-witch?”

“There’s this awful sea-witch who ruined my life!” The same voice rose to a falsetto.

“You have my word, I shall kill it!” The voice dropped back to its usual tempo.

“But sir,” The voice spoke up, squeaky and unsure, “You can’t go, it’s too dangerous!

Roman took a long, deep breath as he stared out into the coral reef. On good days, he could envision a host of mer-folk gathered to see his performance, their ears straining to catch every line uttered from his lips. Today was not a good day.

He unconsciously reached to touch the bruise on his cheek—left by the scuffle he had earlier with one of his older half-siblings. When they weren’t busy or treating Roman like he was invisible, their favorite pastime involved ensnaring him with cruel taunts. Normally, he did his best to ignore them. A prince does not let flimsy words get to them. But today they decided to insult his mother for the thousandth time, and something inside of him snapped.

Without thinking, he threw himself at his older half-brother, landing a solid punch in before he was overpowered. His brother planted a few punches of his own, but it hadn’t mattered. Roman was the one who had started the fight.

Of course, it wasn’t Roman who paid the price but a servant’s boy. Roman was forced to watch as an innocent servant boy was plucked from the masses and given ten lashes. He had flinched each time the whip hit the boy’s back.

It was all his fault for reacting violently to their words—and he couldn’t even pay the penance himself. He had begged and pleaded before his father beforehand for the lashes to come upon himself.

“Silence!” His father broke out, his gaze absence of any warmth, “You are a prince, Roman. You must learn that your actions hold consequences for others.”

He had fled to this cove to take his mind off of things. To pretend to be someone else for a change—a gallant knight, a damsel in distress, a cowering squire—anything but a prince. He had failed that servant boy today. He struck in anger for his mother’s honor—something that should be noble and yet, it caused pain to his subject.

He can’t focus it right now. Right, now he needs to focus on his role, and give the imaginary audience a show of their lifetime. Considering he imagined them up around five minutes ago, that shouldn’t be all that hard.

He sighed as he recomposed himself.

“But I must go, Theodore! Am I not the wielder of the Baynard’s Sword—Sword of a Thousand Slayings? A Sea-witch will be no match for me!”

He pressed a hand dramatically over his chest as his other arm flailed beside him.

“But sir, how do you know? You’ve never faced a sea-witch!” He shifted his stance, turning to converse with the empty air.

“Really, Phineas, you worry too much!” He let out a fake laugh as he placed his hands on his hips, “Now fair maiden—lead us to this most foul beast!”

He threw himself into the roles, making up a story as he progressed. He allowed the characters to take over, letting them decide the direction of his tale. He was just as flabbergasted as Theodore and Phineas when the fair maiden turned out to be the sea-witch herself leading the brave knight and his worrisome squire into a trap.

So in enraptured with the play, that he hardly noticed a figure in slip into the audience. A real, live merperson sat among the foliage of the corals, quietly observing the play unfold. Their eyebrows were furrowed as they tried to comprehend what was playing out before them.

They often took a break from their studies to take a leisurely swim as it’s important to exercise to maintain optimal health. They had been drawn in first by sight of Roman, having recognized him. They had thought it to be polite to greet him, only to be stopped when they realized he was putting on a spectacle of some sorts. They’d never seen anything quite like it—the prince was pretending to act like a variety of different people to tell a story.

Maybe if they had indulged with make-believe games or seen theater performances, they’d be more accustomed to this. But they had spent their days too occupied with studying to be involved with such frivolities, even at a younger age.

The play came to an end as Theodore managed to escape the Fields of Blair and defeat the Sea-witch once and for all.

“Thank you, thank you!” Roman grinned as he leaned forward to bow.

He imagined thunderous applause and cheers from a crowd—he did not expect someone to be politely clapping. He finally gazed into the audience and jolted in surprise.

“You—” He spluttered, “What are you doing here?”

His voice reached an anxious pitch.

Sitting amongst the corals, was Logan. One of the few commoners he had the opportunity to personally interact with, due to the fact he was among the smartest merperson ever since his first words. He was quite possibly the last person Roman would’ve wanted to catch him performing, the others being his half-siblings of course. His theatre antics would be just one more thing used against him.

“This is a public domain, you know,” Logan said, “Anyone is allowed to take a swim or…amuse one’s self by pretending to be different people.”

“It’s called acting!” Roman said, indignant, “Haven’t you ever been to a play before?”

Logan tilted his head at him, blinking.

“No I have not seen a professional make-believe before,” Logan frowned, “I suppose this is my first time.”

“O-oh,” Roman swallowed, choosing to ignore that thinly-veiled insult, “Well, did you like it?”

Although his stony face remained the same, Logan’s eyes lit up in excitement.

“I enjoyed it immensely. I must say I wasn’t expecting that twist with the Sea-witch—that was very well-done. I do wish I could’ve caught the beginning of your play.”

He couldn’t believe it. Logan, of all people, liked his play. He never thought the nerd had the capacity to appreciate the finer things in life such as art.

“Perhaps I could perform it for you again from the beginning,” Roman suggested, with a wide grin.

“I would like that.” Logan said, his lips twitching upwards.

Logan returned the next day to watch the play, and the next day after that. It became something of a pastime between the two. Whenever Roman had uncontrollable urge to perform a play, he’d drag Logan from the depths of his studies to watch his performances. Sometimes, he managed to convince Logan to take the part of the villain or damsel-in-distress.

“I can’t produce the story half as well without a fellow thespian!” Roman whined, “Do you know how hard it is to sword fight and be four different characters at the same time?!”

“Well, I’m sure the fish and I wouldn’t be too bothered by the unrealism, considering everything else in the play is imaginary.” Logan responded, but accepted the fake sword willingly.

Occasionally, the quiet merman would offer up story advice of his own to Roman and often his ideas spurred on more of Roman’s ideas.

Once, he wrote poetry for one of Roman’s play.

“You wrote poetry? For my plays?” Roman squealed, “Show me, show me!”

He reached his hands out like an impatient child. Logan rolled his eyes at his antics.

“It’s based off Theodore and the Sea-Witch. It’s alright if you…dislike it as I’m unsatisfied with it myself.”

“Let me be the judge of that,” Roman said, taking the tablet away from Logan and began reading it aloud.

“Theodore, You’re such a bore

Phineas, truly a Linnaeus

What a pair of fools you make!

Look how you quiver and quake

In awe of my ferocious power

For death of the hour is at hand

Your time is up

No follow-up

To your tale

My, you’re looking pale!

With this spell, I do declare

Farewell, off you go to the Fields of Blair!”

At the last line, Roman stood still.

“Do you find it adequate?” Logan spoke up hesitantly.

“Adequate? It’s amazing!” He laughed as he picked up Logan and swung him around, “I can’t believe you wrote that for my play! I’ll have to incorporate it into the next iteration!”

“I am pleased that you like it,” Logan said, “but I’m starting to have…difficulty breathing.”

“Sorry!” Roman sheepishly released Logan from his embrace.

Logan didn’t remain his only audience for long as Patton eventually joined in on the fun. Roman had been hesitant with Patton’s presence, but his fears were quickly evaded when afterwards, Patton glomped him.

“YOU DID SO GOOD!” Patton said before heaving a big breath and rattling off all the things he loved about Roman’s performance.

Patton took to the part of the damsel-in-distress like a fish to water. He often giggled in Roman’s arms, as Roman carried him to safety from the imagined threat.

However, it took a long while before he warmed up to the thought of Virgil joining in on his plays. The first time Virgil attended, he immediately cast him as the villain.

“Wait why am I the villain?” Virgil growled.

“Because Patton is already the damsel-in-distress and Logan doesn’t want to join in.” Roman explained, as if presenting a concept to a three-year-old.

“Well maybe I don’t want to do it either.”

“Aw, c’mon Verge!” Patton encouraged, “It’d be fun!”

Virgil muttered unpleasant things under his breath, but he rose to join the two on the “stage.”

He gives such a convincing performance that Roman never asked again, partially out of fear that the abomination would murder him for real on the stage. Virgil continued to attend, mainly out of obligation for Patton.

“Percy, son of Poseidon, you are burdened with a glorious quest.” He intoned, making his voice low and gravelly akin to that of an old man.

“It doesn’t sound all that glorious to me,” Roman grumbled in his normal tone of voice.

He shifted back into the old man and looked out into the audience. Logan sat up straight, observing attentively. Patton was seated in the middle, his hands clasped together in delight. Virgil was to Patton’s right, watching with an indiscernible expression.

 

For once, he didn’t need to envision a packed auditorium, filled with merfolk of all shapes and sizes. He was content to have the undivided attention of three friends.


End file.
